DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF BIOMASS DOWNDRAFT

GASIFIER AND PRODUCTION OF SYNTHESIS GAS

Group Members Supervisor and Advisor

Ibad Imran (ME-1236) Abdul Wahab Sayed
Adil Iqbal (ME-1243)
Farrukh Ahmed Khan (ME-
1309)
 SCHEME OF PRESENTATION

Project Description
Problem Statement and Solution
Project Introduction and Summary of CDRB
Imbert Downdraft Gasifier - Components

Design Calculations and Performance Analysis

Energy and Dimensional Calculations
Theoretical and Simulated Calculations
Thermodynamic Equilibrium Model
Effect of Variables over Parameters

Failure Mode Cause & Effect Analysis and Future Planning

FMCEA Chart
Fabrication Plan and Cost
Future Strategy
 PROJECT
DESCRIPTION
Gasification
Energy Problem
Lack of Waste Management
Product
Environmental pollution
Dependence
Syngas on Non-Renewable Sources
Ash
SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Applications
Power Production
Bio-diesel
Bio-ethanol
Kerosene
 SUMMARY
PROCESS OF CDRB
DESCRIPTION

THE ORGANIC MATERIAL

BIOMASS FED INTO
GASIFIER UNDERGOES
CLASSIFICATION BASED THE FOLLOWING
ON BED TYPE
FLUIDIZED BED PROCESSES
FIXED BED ENTRAINED FLOW
DRYING REMOVAL OF MOISTURE CONTENT

PYROLYSIS SYNGAS EXTRACTION

VOLATILE METHOD
MATERIAL IS REMOVED
UPDRAFT DOWNDRAFT CROSSDRAFT
CONVERSION OF PYROLYSED FEED
OXIDATION
INTO CO2 AND H2O
THROAT DESIGN
REDUCTION PRODUCTION OF SYNGAS
IMBERT STRATIFIED
 Hopper

Hopper Cover

Air Inlet Pipe

Reactor
Reactor Shell

COMPONENTS
Gas Outlet Pipe

Ash Chamber

Grate
DESIGN CALCULATIONS AND
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
 CALCULATION
ENERGY OUTPUTSTUDY
QTH

The energy output that should be obtained to fulfill our energy requirements
Energy
The energy Calculations
output Dimensional
directly affects the dimensions of the gasifier model andCalculations
the process
parameters
Assumption: nth = 15% [Handbook of Biomass Downdraft Gasifier Chapter 11]
Reactor Shell Diameter
Energy Output
Height of Reactor

nth = Energy
ThroatOutput = 15 kWth
Diameter
Energy Input Tube kW
2.2 Diameter
Qth e
Height of Air nozzle above throat
Air feed requirement Diameter of Air nozzle
Reduction Zone length
Ash Collection Unit sizing
Volume flow rate of syngas
Hopper sizing
 CONTINUED ENERGY INPUT

HHVdaf
Energy = HHV
Input d xthe form of heating value of fuel feed
is in
The fuel feed rate is directly dependent on gasifier efficiency
HHVd
and=LHV
349.1*C + 1178.3*H + 100.5*S 103.4*O 15.1*N
of biomass Energy Input in the form of
21.1*Ash
LHVbiomass is dependent on the Ultimate Analysis of Biomass Fuel Feed kg/hr

HHVdaf = 18.44 x = 18.76 MJ/kg

LHVbm = 18,760
Fuel 20,300 xRate
Consumption (5.87=%) (2260 x 12.35%) = 17.29 MJ/kg
= = 0.001735 kg/s = 6.24 kg/hr

LHVbm = HHVdaf 20,300 x Hdaf 2260 x Mdaf Assumption ngef is 50% [prabir basu chapter 6]
Daf dry-ash-free basis
D dry basis
W.b wet basis
Moisturew.b = 11%, Ashdaf = 1.36%, Md = 12.35%
 AIR FEED REQUIREMENT

Air fed in the gasifier should be less than the stoichiometric air required for complete combustion
To required
Air calculate for
thegasification:
stoichiometric air required (for 1 kg of fuel):

For a fuel feed rate of 6.24 kg/hr,

Equivalence Ratio is the percentage of stoichiometric air requirement that is actually supplied.
Or,
The air required for gasification (for 1 kg of fuel) is given by:

E.R = 0.3 for corncobs

 VOLUME FLOW RATE OF SYNGAS

Applying energy balance on exhaust, the volume flow rate of syngas is given by:
So,

Where,
Therefore,
Vg
Q = Preset required thermal output &
= Lower heating value of syngas (KJ/m3)

The LHVg can be calculated by:

 DIMENSIONAL
DIAMETER CALCULATIONS
OF REACTOR SHELL

The
Reactor casing houses theflow
complete gasifier assembly

Using Linear interpolation based on rate of syngas,

SGR = 70 kg/h.m2

Therefore,
Where,
SGR is the
Allowing forSpecific Gasification
a 1 in thick Rate calculated
insulation around from the rate of syngas production
the reactor,

SGR is the amount of feed

gasified per hour per unit of
hearth area
 HEIGHT OF REACTOR

The Run

time (T) is the
Determines thetime
time(inthe
hours) that would
biomass the gasifier
stay inwould
each operate for. Wezones
of the reactor have
selected a run time of 3 hours.
Affects the quality of the syngas produced 3
Density of corn cobs was determined to be 280 kg/m

Thus, The height of the reactor is given by:

Height of the reactor

Or,
Where,
T = Gasifier run time &
bm = Density of biomass
DIAMETER OF THROAT

Throat/hearth constriction is the narrowest part of an Imbert gasifier

Inserting Values,
Region where oxidation takes place
Since,
The diameter of throat is calculated through optimal hearth load calculations.
Therefore,

where,
Vg = volume flow rate of syngas

Optimal hearth load for single throat downdraft gasifier = 0.3 Nm3/h.cm2 = 0.833 Nm3/s.m2
 TUBE DIAMETER

The
tube
Thediameter is calculated
cross-section from the
of the reactor following
influences thegraph:
FCR which influences the extent to
For a throat
which diameter of 76 mm gasification.
the fuel undergoes (3 inches),
Residence time in the pyrolysis zone should be long enough that charcoal is formed
which is completely free from volatile gases.
Very short residence times result in unreacted biomass while too long residence
times cause slagging.

Therefore,
HEIGHT OF AIR NOZZLES ABOVE THROAT

The height of air nozzles determine the length and the residence time of the oxidation zone
Keeping the length of the oxidation zone at the optimum level is essential for minimized tar levels
in the output
The height of the air nozzles above throat can be determined by the following graph

According to the graph, for a throat diameter of 76 mm (3 inches):

Therefore,
 AIR NOZZLE DIAMETER AND BLAST
VELOCITY

Air nozzle diameter and blast velocity control is essential to ensure controlled air supply to the hearth
Increasing or decreasing the air flow would disrupt the process of gasification
Number of air nozzles at the hearth are kept odd (but not 1) to prevent reduction in velocity due to flow rate
interaction of opposite nozzles. The number of nozzles was set at 3 due the small size of the gasifier
The following
a throat
For diametergraph
of 76ismm
used
(3 to determine
inches) and 3the
inletoverall air nozzle area based on the throat diameter;
nozzles,
Similarly,

for
Or, a throat diameter of 76 mm (3 inches),

Thus,

For standardization, d = 0.5 inches

LENGTH OF REDUCTION ZONE

Responsible for reduction reactions for the formation of syngas

Length should be sufficient for completion of endothermic reactions but should not allow
equilibrium shifting to the reactant(s) side
Diameter of the zone should be equal to
the reactor diameter
The length of the reduction zone is
calculated from the graph on the right:
For a throat diameter of 7.6 cm (3 inches),

Thus,
 CAD MODEL AND 2-D DRAFTS

Hopper cover

Ash Chamber Grate

Air inlet pipe

Hopper Reactor
Reactor Shell
2D Draft
Reactor Grate Hopper Cover Air InletShell
Reactor Pipe

Ash Chamber

Air Manifold

Hopper
Gas Outlet Pipe
THERMAL AND PERFORMANCE
ANALYSIS
 THERMAL GRADIENT

The thermal gradient is formed through the

exothermic reactions at the oxidation zone
Expected temperatures which are input into
the simulation shown are
Drying Zone 100oC
Oxidation Zone 900oC
Reduction Zone 650oC
 THERMAL STRESS
CALCULATION
Critical Pressures based on Hoop and Longitudinal Stresses
As pressures would be less than or equal to
Due to cyclic thermal conditions in the reactor, thermal
atmospheric pressures i.e. 0.1 MPa
Hoop Stresses
Forstrain is produced
reactor shell which in turn produces thermal stresses
Inner
With
Thus diameter
based oncritical
increase 15temperature,
in inches and thickness
pressuresmolecules 0.0034
begin
the model inches
is to vibrate
safe
more violentlyThickness
and start<moving
Internalfurther
diameter
away.
Therefore, thin cylinder assumption is justified
The stresses developed is a possible reason of cracking and
Hoop stresses
potential - h =
breaking

For h = yield strength (450 MPa)

Ph = 2 MPa
As Longitudinal Stresses = 2 x Hoop stress
Thus PL = 4 MPa
 STRESSES
THERMAL STRAIN
For the reactor shell with length of 36 inches
Stress can be found by
t = * L * (Tf Ti) with= being thermal expansion coeff.
*E*(TfTi)
= 17.6difference
The temperature (10-6) * (193
thatxis10used
9
) * 30 = 100
is the MPa between
difference
the highest and the lowest temperature recorded during
Thegasification
factor of safety based
and is on the
assumed to calculations
be 30oC shown is 1.15.
As stress value is less than the yield strength, the model is safe to use

Simulation t
can=be seen
17.6 (10on the
-6) * right * 30 = 0.4 mm
0.9144
The simulation can be seen on the right
THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM MODEL

Used for the prediction of maximum achievable yield of a desired product from a reacting system
It is assumed that a reaction has infinite time to reach equilibrium yield. At this condition, the yield and
composition is given by thermodynamic equilibrium model
The method is independent of the design and gives a highly ideal case of yield.
The parameters used are
1. Mass Balance
2. Equilibrium Constants
3. Minimization of Gibbs free energy
4. Energy Balance
Continued

The analysis incorporates the chemical equation of the biomass as well as the reaction chemistry.
Thermodynamic
Mass Balances ofEquilibrium
carbon hydrogenConstantsand oxygen species are calculated to form three equations
Chemical
Uses equation
Thus minimization
the three forGibbs
of
equations gasification of anyconcept
Free Energy
formed are biomassand fuelequilibrium
can be written as
constants
The twoCHxOyNz
main reactions that(Ooccur and are used in our model are the Water-gas shift and
+ wH2O+x 6 2+3.76N2) = x1H2 + x2CO + x3CO2 + x4H2O + x5CH4 + (z+3.76 x6) N2
the Methanation reaction and the constants Carbonare K2 and K1 respectively
Balance:

The empirical
Thus, a furtherformula for our are
two equations biomass
obtainedxi.e.
2 +ln
Corncob,
3K+i =
xfrom x5the-1 is found
=constants
0 from its ultimate analysis to be
values
G
HydrogenCH1.516i
=( f,T
OBalance:
0.734 N)0.00725
ln K12x 1=+-2.1498 + 4x)T5+30.0003855*T
x( 4c/2 1.8643 = 40+ (+e/2T
2180.6/T
And our
ln K2
g of,T
= 7032.848/T
= h fo - aTln(T)
gasification reaction
6.567*lnT

becomesbT 2
+ (7.466
- x10 *
-
T)
( d/3
/ 2
)T
(2.164x10 *
) T+2)/6
f + +gT(0.701x10-5/2T2) + 32.541
Oxygen Balance
-3 -6
The values of all variable can be obtained from the table shown
CH1.516O0.734N0.00725 + wH2O+x x2 6+(O2x
2+3.76N
3 + x4 2)2x = 6x1H0.90815
2+x2CO+x =3CO
0 2+x4H2O+x5CH4 + (z+3.76 x6)N2
w = = 0.17415

Variables to be found are x1 to x6

 Continued

To obtain the final equation, we look at the Energy Balance

(x
h2h o,CO + x=
of, biomass 3h
LHV + x ho,H2O*+1000/(M*M
bm + 4(ho,CO2
o,CO2 x5ho,CH4) + (x1bC) p+,H2(x/2)*(h
+ x2Cp,CO of,H2O
+ x3C*p,CO2 + x4Cp,H2O +bx)5Cp,CH4 + 3.76x6Cp,N2)*T hf,biomass
1000/M*M
hof,Xbiomass
Here = 16,829 kJ/kmol
i; i=1, 2, 3, 4, 5 represents the no of moles of each species present in Syngas

Cp defines the specific heat constant and hf is the formation enthalpy

Thus, the sixth and final equation becomes
Cp,i = A + B/2 (T2 + T1) + C/3(T22 +T2T1 +T21) + D/4(T32 +T22T1 +T2 T21 +T31) + E/4(T42 +T32T1 + T22T22 +T2 T31 + T41)
((-110.5*x2 - 393.5*x3 - 241.8*x4 - 74.8*x5) + (902)*(28.76*x1 + 41.71*x2 + 48.84*x3 + 38.78 * x4 - 153.05*x5 + 115.958*x6)) = 16829

LHVbm = 17,290 kJ/kg, x = 1.516

M = 18, Mb = 25.36
 RESULTS

For our moisture contentX1

Moisture
i.e. 11%,
(H the
) equations
X3 (CO2) X2 (CO)
X4 (H2O) are:
X5 (CH4) X6
Variation
Content
of Syngas
2
composition effect due to MC
1. k1=exp(-2.4198+0.0003855*T1+2180.6/T1)
0.7
2.k2 = exp(7032.848/T1 - 6.567*ln(T1) + (7.466*10^(-3)*T1/2) - (2.164*10^(-6)*T1^2/6) +
11% 0.3792
(0.701*10^(-5)/2*T1^2)
0.6 0.6651
+ 32.541) 0.1139 0.0747 0.2210 0.0478
3. 0.5+ x3 + x5 = 1
x2
No. of MoLES

20% 0.3969
0.4+ 2*x3 + x4 - 2*x6
4. x2 = 0.734 0.6065
+w 0.1608 0.1211 0.2327 0.0449
5. 0.3 + 2*x4 + 4*x5 = 1.516 + 2*w
2*x1
30% 0.2 0.4105 0.5665 0.1926 0.1607 0.2413 0.0410
6. ((-110.5*x2 - 393.5*x3 - 241.8*x4 - 74.8*x5) + (902)*(28.76*x1 + 41.71*x2 + 48.84*x3 +
38.78
0.1 * x4 - 153.05*x5 + 115.958*x6)) = 16829
40% 0 0.4184 0.5444 0.2094 0.1852 0.2462 0.0381
MC - 11% MC - 20% MC - 30% mc4

Moisture content

x1 - H2 x2 - CO x3 - CO2 - Assumptions:
x4 H2O Gasification
x5 - CH4 x6 temperature is 1200 K
EFFECT OF PARAMETER
VARIATION ON FACTORS

Effect of Equivalence Ratio on Syngas Composition

Effect of Equivalence Ratio on HHV of Syngas
Effect of Equivalence Ratio on Efficiency
 FAILURE MODE CAUSE & EFFECT
ANALYSIS AND FUTURE PLANNING
 Rating Meaning Rating Meaning
1 Low 1 Low

FAILURE MODE AND EFFECT2 CHART

Medium
2
3
Low Medium
Medium
3 High
4 Medium - High
5 High
Step by step approach used for identifying possible failures in
design or product
FAILURE MODE EFFECTS SOLUTION
Storage and Transport
Modes in which theStart-up Consequence Feeding
of The solution Gasifier Operation
Gasifier material failures
may fail Ignition torch touches
falls over during should
Flame front travel quickly up be Reactor reaches very high
transport insulation the reactor temperatures
Includes defects or Temperaturerises Also caters
during to the complete Reactor catches fire
errors starting likelihood of the Should alleviate
Gasifier Explosion
Combustible gasesfailure
build up and problem as CO well
andasHydrogen leakage
ignite during next startup Syngas does not exit
Flame travels out of ash box lower chances of
occurrence
Situation Failure Mode Severity of Hazard Likelihood of occurrence Rank Counter Measures
No

1 Gasifier falls over during transport Low-medium Low 2 Gasifier will be bolted to the bottom during transport. It will be allowed to cool
before transportation to avoid damage to the persons handling it

2 Ignition torch ignites the glass Medium Low 3 The operator handling the blow torch will be assisted by one person who will
wool insulation ensure that the ignition goes smoothly. A fire extinguisher will be kept nearby

2 Temperature of the reactor gets Medium Medium 3 The gasifier will be equipped with sealed entrances which will effectively block out
high during start up air. All entrances will be shut down to make the flame die out and reduce the
temperature

2 Combustible gases from previous High Medium 5 After each operation cycle, all gasifier entrances will be opened for half hour to
operations build up inside the allow the built-up gases to escape. Air blowers will be used to pump air through the
reactor and ignite when the blow reactor once the operation is completed
torch is used to start the reaction

2 Flame travels out the ash box Medium-high Low 4 Combustible gases will not be present at appreciable levels during this time, so the
while it is open for start-up flame is extremely unlikely to travel out of the ash. Operators will wear personal
protective equipment and stay out of the line of the ash box hole

3 Flame front travels quickly up the High Low 5 Hopper will be sealed tightly during the entire operation. Feeding will be done
reactor before the operation starts

4 Reactor reaches temperatures Medium-High Medium 4 Temperature sensors will be constantly monitored. If the temperature rises above
higher than 1100 desirable levels, air feeding will be diminished which will choke the reaction

4 Reactor catches fire High Low 5 Not likely to occur. In case of such an incident, a fire extinguisher will be used to
effectively deal with the situation

4 Carbon monoxide and hydrogen Low 5 Reactor will be welded to prevent leaks and will be working under negative
leakage from the reactor pressure conditions. In case of a leakage, the reactor will draw air in instead of
syngas leaking out

4 Gasifier Explosion High Low 5 Explosions may occur due to high moisture conditions in the reactor. The biomass
used will be dried before being fed to the reactor

4 Syngas does not exit the gasifier Low Low 1 A blower is attached at the exit which will draw the syngas out without any
problems
 COSTING
Component Quantity Price - PKR
SS 304 Sheet - 14 Gauge 2 20,000
Fabrication Cost Reactor - 10,000
Spray Paint; 3.75% Miscellaneous; 3.75%
Galvanized Steel Pipe and Sheet 2 + 2Metal case Blowers; 7.50% 5,000
SS-304 sheets; 25.00%
Insulation; 8.75%
PK-1000 Sensors 3 15,000
Agitation Motor and grate; 7.50%
Display Unit Industrial Sim 1 5,000
Fabrication cost; 12.50%
Display unit; 6.25%
Agitation Motor and Grate 1+1 6,000
Galvanized Steel pipe and sheet;
PK-1000 sensors; 18.75% 6.25%
Insulation Glass wool 1 7,000
Metal Case Blowers 2 6,000
Spray Paint Cans 3 3,000
Miscellaneous - 3,000
Total 80,000
FUTURE STRATEGY

Increasing Gas yield

Fabrication Process
CFD of Simulation Variation of Equivalence Ratio
Lab Analysis of Syngas
Decreasing Startup time
Process Optimization
Utilizing Syngas for Power production
Thank You!
Questions?